Round of 16, second leg
9 March 2004
I remember watching the game on TV with my older brother António. There are two sofas in the living room and since our UEFA Cup final win against Celtic the previous year we always sat in the same places for every game; even today I sit on the left one and my brother on the right. We each wore Porto shirts and scarves and had blue-and-white blankets sewn by our grandmother. On the left a Porto flag commemorates our five straight titles between 1995 and 1999; on the right is the Portuguese flag.
The scoreboard shows 1-0 to Manchester United with just one minute to play. United lost the first leg 2-1, but are now ahead on away goals. Porto have a free-kick and one last chance. Benni McCarthy, who scored twice in the first leg, stands over the ball. Tim Howard waits in the United goal. This is it, the moment of the truth. McCarthy runs up to the ball and hits it; Howard can’t hold his shot and palms it out, but only to Costinha who smacks in the rebound. Porto have stolen the game at the death! Porto coach José Mourinho is running down the touchline to celebrate with his players at the corner flag. We are jumping up and down on the sofas and making so much noise that the neighbours below are soon banging on the ceiling to tell us to shut up. This is my first Champions League memory. We repeated our ritual for the final, but bizarrely my parents didn’t join us, opting instead to have dinner in the kitchen and watch us beat Monaco on a smaller TV. We still ask them how they could have done that…
Round of 16, second leg
9 March 2004
I remember watching the game on TV with my older brother António. There are two sofas in the living room and since our UEFA Cup final win against Celtic the previous year we always sat in the same places for every game; even today I sit on the left one and my brother on the right. We each wore Porto shirts and scarves and had blue-and-white blankets sewn by our grandmother. On the left a Porto flag commemorates our five straight titles between 1995 and 1999; on the right is the Portuguese flag.
The scoreboard shows 1-0 to Manchester United with just one minute to play. United lost the first leg 2-1, but are now ahead on away goals. Porto have a free-kick and one last chance. Benni McCarthy, who scored twice in the first leg, stands over the ball. Tim Howard waits in the United goal. This is it, the moment of the truth. McCarthy runs up to the ball and hits it; Howard can’t hold his shot and palms it out, but only to Costinha who smacks in the rebound. Porto have stolen the game at the death! Porto coach José Mourinho is running down the touchline to celebrate with his players at the corner flag. We are jumping up and down on the sofas and making so much noise that the neighbours below are soon banging on the ceiling to tell us to shut up. This is my first Champions League memory. We repeated our ritual for the final, but bizarrely my parents didn’t join us, opting instead to have dinner in the kitchen and watch us beat Monaco on a smaller TV. We still ask them how they could have done that…
Round of 16, second leg
9 March 2004
I remember watching the game on TV with my older brother António. There are two sofas in the living room and since our UEFA Cup final win against Celtic the previous year we always sat in the same places for every game; even today I sit on the left one and my brother on the right. We each wore Porto shirts and scarves and had blue-and-white blankets sewn by our grandmother. On the left a Porto flag commemorates our five straight titles between 1995 and 1999; on the right is the Portuguese flag.
The scoreboard shows 1-0 to Manchester United with just one minute to play. United lost the first leg 2-1, but are now ahead on away goals. Porto have a free-kick and one last chance. Benni McCarthy, who scored twice in the first leg, stands over the ball. Tim Howard waits in the United goal. This is it, the moment of the truth. McCarthy runs up to the ball and hits it; Howard can’t hold his shot and palms it out, but only to Costinha who smacks in the rebound. Porto have stolen the game at the death! Porto coach José Mourinho is running down the touchline to celebrate with his players at the corner flag. We are jumping up and down on the sofas and making so much noise that the neighbours below are soon banging on the ceiling to tell us to shut up. This is my first Champions League memory. We repeated our ritual for the final, but bizarrely my parents didn’t join us, opting instead to have dinner in the kitchen and watch us beat Monaco on a smaller TV. We still ask them how they could have done that…
Round of 16, second leg
9 March 2004
I remember watching the game on TV with my older brother António. There are two sofas in the living room and since our UEFA Cup final win against Celtic the previous year we always sat in the same places for every game; even today I sit on the left one and my brother on the right. We each wore Porto shirts and scarves and had blue-and-white blankets sewn by our grandmother. On the left a Porto flag commemorates our five straight titles between 1995 and 1999; on the right is the Portuguese flag.
The scoreboard shows 1-0 to Manchester United with just one minute to play. United lost the first leg 2-1, but are now ahead on away goals. Porto have a free-kick and one last chance. Benni McCarthy, who scored twice in the first leg, stands over the ball. Tim Howard waits in the United goal. This is it, the moment of the truth. McCarthy runs up to the ball and hits it; Howard can’t hold his shot and palms it out, but only to Costinha who smacks in the rebound. Porto have stolen the game at the death! Porto coach José Mourinho is running down the touchline to celebrate with his players at the corner flag. We are jumping up and down on the sofas and making so much noise that the neighbours below are soon banging on the ceiling to tell us to shut up. This is my first Champions League memory. We repeated our ritual for the final, but bizarrely my parents didn’t join us, opting instead to have dinner in the kitchen and watch us beat Monaco on a smaller TV. We still ask them how they could have done that…
Round of 16, second leg
9 March 2004
I remember watching the game on TV with my older brother António. There are two sofas in the living room and since our UEFA Cup final win against Celtic the previous year we always sat in the same places for every game; even today I sit on the left one and my brother on the right. We each wore Porto shirts and scarves and had blue-and-white blankets sewn by our grandmother. On the left a Porto flag commemorates our five straight titles between 1995 and 1999; on the right is the Portuguese flag.
The scoreboard shows 1-0 to Manchester United with just one minute to play. United lost the first leg 2-1, but are now ahead on away goals. Porto have a free-kick and one last chance. Benni McCarthy, who scored twice in the first leg, stands over the ball. Tim Howard waits in the United goal. This is it, the moment of the truth. McCarthy runs up to the ball and hits it; Howard can’t hold his shot and palms it out, but only to Costinha who smacks in the rebound. Porto have stolen the game at the death! Porto coach José Mourinho is running down the touchline to celebrate with his players at the corner flag. We are jumping up and down on the sofas and making so much noise that the neighbours below are soon banging on the ceiling to tell us to shut up. This is my first Champions League memory. We repeated our ritual for the final, but bizarrely my parents didn’t join us, opting instead to have dinner in the kitchen and watch us beat Monaco on a smaller TV. We still ask them how they could have done that…
Round of 16, second leg
9 March 2004
I remember watching the game on TV with my older brother António. There are two sofas in the living room and since our UEFA Cup final win against Celtic the previous year we always sat in the same places for every game; even today I sit on the left one and my brother on the right. We each wore Porto shirts and scarves and had blue-and-white blankets sewn by our grandmother. On the left a Porto flag commemorates our five straight titles between 1995 and 1999; on the right is the Portuguese flag.
The scoreboard shows 1-0 to Manchester United with just one minute to play. United lost the first leg 2-1, but are now ahead on away goals. Porto have a free-kick and one last chance. Benni McCarthy, who scored twice in the first leg, stands over the ball. Tim Howard waits in the United goal. This is it, the moment of the truth. McCarthy runs up to the ball and hits it; Howard can’t hold his shot and palms it out, but only to Costinha who smacks in the rebound. Porto have stolen the game at the death! Porto coach José Mourinho is running down the touchline to celebrate with his players at the corner flag. We are jumping up and down on the sofas and making so much noise that the neighbours below are soon banging on the ceiling to tell us to shut up. This is my first Champions League memory. We repeated our ritual for the final, but bizarrely my parents didn’t join us, opting instead to have dinner in the kitchen and watch us beat Monaco on a smaller TV. We still ask them how they could have done that…
